1. Technical Field of the Invention
Specifically, though not exclusively, the cutoff machine is useful for xe2x80x9crunningxe2x80x9d cuts effected on tubular elements produced by continuous cold-forming on motorized and non-motorized rollers.
2. Prior Art
Among known and used cutting systems there is a system known as xe2x80x9cdimple-freexe2x80x9d which consists in using two tools whose movements are mechanically constrained one to the other. One of these is a scoring tool, which makes a first incision tangentially to the tubular element, while the other is a cutter or blade, which makes the full cut, starting from the incision made by the scorer. The mechanical constraint between the two tools is rigid in the sense that they are both part of a same mechanism. Thanks to this unified mechanism the movements of the two tools are determined one in function of the other, i.e. a determined position of one always corresponds to an equally-determined relative position of the other).
A mechanism transforms the non-active vertical movement of the cutting tool into the active part, i.e. the working run, of the scoring tool, which run is perpendicular to the vertical movement of the cutting tool. The order of operations is thus: the scoring tool removes the superficial part of the tubular element, immediately following which the cutting tool penetrates into the score made by the scoring tool and performs the complete cut. Throughout the operation the tubular element is clamped by little vises which are specially activated for the purpose.
These machines however have some drawbacks which heavily compromise their use.
The operation of the two tools is fixed, independently of the size and material of the elements to be cut (the cutter run-cycle is of fixed entity). This means that the cutting cycle times are not adaptable, in economically viable terms, to situations where the elements to be cut have varying characteristics (size, materials).
The main aim of the present invention is to provide a cutoff machine for tubular elements which can overcome the above-mentioned drawbacks in the prior art.
More specifically, the main aim of the present invention is to optimize the removal of material by the scoring tool independently of the operation speed of the cutter.
A further aim is to increase considerably the working life of the scoring tool.
A further aim is to make the element cutting time proportional to the size of the workpiece element without changing the cutting tool speed.
An advantage of the invention is constituted by the considerable operational flexibility of the cutting tool.
The machine comprises a scoring tool, which makes a first surface incision tangentially of a tubular element, and a blade for making a full cut starting from the surface incision, the machine being characterised in that it comprises means for autonomously commanding and guiding a working cycle of the scoring tool and also comprises distinct means for autonomously commanding and guiding a working cycle of the blade.